This week saw the release of the first video blog from the New Zealand set of The Hobbit. The long awaited follow-up to The Lord of the Rings, and my most anticipated two films since The Return of the King. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a couple of movies. And the coolest thing is that they’ll definitely live up to my expectations. Knowing that many of the same creative team has returned, and that they’re putting the same detail and care into the project, would be a shock if they didn’t measure up at all to The Lord of the Rings.
When I watched the first production video blog that Peter Jackson put together, it gave me the familiar feeling of The Lord of the Rings behind the scenes. The familiar music added an emotional weight to the video that conjured up memories of the films that have become so familiar to me, while also getting me really excited to hear the new music that Howard Shore is composing for these new adventures.
The video also made me want to build both Bag End and Rivendell at my house.
There hasn’t been a better writer than J.R.R. Tolkien, nor a better book than The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit is part of that world. Watch the video below.
I love how it ends with what was likely the first shot they filmed for the film: a hand picking up the One Ring, followed by a shot of Bag End.
A little more than a year ago, I wrote about how I felt that a new Ghostbusters animated series was possible with the upcoming motion picture event that is Ghostbusters 3. I’m hoping that Bill Murray actually reads the script and says he’ll do the film. Not only will it satisfy my want for another film in the series, but it’ll also give a lot of people work this year.
I read something else that made me excited today, though, and that is the announcement of the monthly publication of a Ghostbusters comic book. This is something that I have been hoping for, and the reason that I bought all of the Ghostbusters comics that have been released within the last few years. IDW has finally decided to make it a monthly series, though, and it seems that fan favorite artist Dapper Dan is going to have a hand in it, if not be the series’ artist for a few issues. I really like his style. It evokes thoughts of what an animated series would look like if it were based on his artistic style. I have a feeling that it would be just different enough from The Real Ghostbusters to make it a new, and not derivative, series that is distinct and original.
Time for another geeky entry. A few months ago, I wrote about Wonder Woman’s new look, and how I liked the modesty that it brought to the character. I also had a feeling that it was created to help with the look of the character in future movie projects. Well, DC just recently announced that they are going to be doing a Justice League movie for release in 2013. They also announced a feature film version of Wonder Woman and The Flash. It’s still too early to see how the upcoming Wonder Woman tv series (that hasn’t been picked up just yet) could have an effect on the film version.
When it comes to the costume of the character, however, there has been a lot of discussion in the last few weeks. The image that I posted at the top of this story is cover art from an upcoming issue of the Wonder Woman comic, #609, which is releasing in June 2011. Apparently the new costume with the pants, shirt and jacket wasn’t meant to last very long. In fact, it seems as though it might have been in an alternate universe. This is a shame, to me, as you can see that she’s now back to her immodest look.
This change wasn’t based on the backlash toward the costume that Adrianne Palicki was initially wearing as Wonder Woman (Diana) for the new tv series’ pilot. It was just part of the storyline. However, the new costume did effect the TV series in a way that I was both happy and upset with. I was happy that it inspired the pants that Diana needs to wear, but upset with the color of them, and the lack of a jacket of any kind.
Okay, so this year’s commercials were pretty underwhelming overall. However, there were a number of movies that I am really excited about that had commercials.
#1: Transformers: Dark of the Moon – I’ll start with the movie that I am most excited to see. I will make no apologies for being a fan of Transformers. I will probably always be excited for another Transformers movie. This commercial didn’t have any dialogue, but showed a lot of action and an entire city under siege. I saw someone comment that it looked like “more of the same story” from the first two movies. Technically not true. A battle in the city was done in the first film, but that was to get the cube. The second one had a villain trying to destroy the sun. This one seems to feature a Decepticon invasion. Of course all of them have the same purpose, because the Decepticons have only one goal: victory.
I just saw a sketch on Conan that featured a clip from the upcoming series Young Justice featuring Conan’s superhero character The Flaming C. Suddenly I saw a lot of traffic from search engines and people are looking for the footage. Welcome, fellow Conan fans!
I loved seeing that clip as a fan of both Conan and Young Justice. However, I have seen the episode that the clip was taken from, and the character that they animated The Flaming C on top of is Superman or Batman (I can’t remember which, but he has Batman’s voice). It was great seeing Conan’s character on the show, however, and I do hope that they keep pumping out the clips. It was definitely animated by the studio, though, and looked spectacular and authentic. I’m hopeful that they actually do a cameo, but I’m not sure of the legal implications of that. Because Conan owns his show, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a deal with Warner Brothers to make it happen.
More exciting news on the Ghostbusters 3 development. Ivan Reitman has confirmed that the screenplay is complete for the third Ghostbusters film, which he believes could be the best of the three. While I don’t doubt that it could be, I think it’s going to be a very tough mark to reach. Depending on what point of view you take, it could be the best in terms of effects, story, cinematography or laughs. There are any number of variables that it could be the best at.
However, I’ve written in the past about Ghostbusters 3: Thoughts and Feelings on Continuing the Series, and I highly recommend you read it as it has garnered a lot of positive response from fans in some Ghostbusters fan forums. It’s going to be tough to even live up to our expectations, let alone top all of them. There will be those of us that find the new film can only sit in the shadow of the original. There will also be many that feel the new one far overshadows the old (and most of those sentiments will come from younger fans that didn’t grow up with the original).
I admire the confidence, though, and can’t wait to see if it does hold up to things that I have heard about it.
CS: The whole Sigourney Weaver thing about her son taking over and Bill Murray coming back as a ghost…
Reitman: Oh, no, yeah… I mean, Sigourney Weaver has a role in this movie. All the original characters have parts. As well as a whole bunch of new characters… it’s got a really good story, this one. Maybe the best of the whole series. I hope we get to do it.
Christmas 2009 came with a new gift from Disney • Pixar: Prep & Landing. This is a new holiday classic featuring a pair of elves that prepare each home for the arrival of Santa Claus. They make sure that the children are asleep, and any potential problems are neutralized before he comes to deliver presents to the home. It only took the first few minutes to make it one of my favorite Christmas specials that I have ever seen. I must have watched it a few dozen times last year.
I learned something very exciting today. Not only is Prep & Landing going to air again this year (hoping for a Blu-ray release some day), but they’re also working on a sequel! Now, the sequel isn’t due until Christmas 2011, is a very long wait.
I was a bit disappointed that I would have to wait another year to have another adventure in the world that was so thoroughly established in the original, and then I saw that they are releasing a short this year as well!
I remember the first time that I watched Prep & Landing. I was blown away. Not only was it a very short special, but it had a lot of heart and when it ended, I wanted more. I didn’t expect it to happen, and not this quickly. Here’s what I know about each new adventure. The short – Operation: Secret Santa, and the sequel – Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.
It’s been a while since I’ve updated, and I figured that I’d write a quick story to let you know that I’m still here, and still writing things. In fact, I’ve been doing a lot of writing as well as traveling. I got married, and have been on my honeymoon, but once everything gets settled down, I should have a bit of time to write up more about all of that.
In the meantime, Conan O’Brien will be returning to TV in a little more than a month. His new show is simply called Conan and it premieres on November 8 on TBS at 11pm.
The logo for the show has also been revealed, as you can see here.
Proof positive of the effectiveness of being creative, original and actually funny: The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien has not only been nominated for one Emmy, but FOUR. And Jay Leno’s Tonight Show received no nominations. Not only that, but ratings since Leno returned have been worse than they’ve been since 1993. NBC actually congratulated Conan, saying “We congratulate Conan and all our nominees on their creative accomplishments and their deserved nominations.”
Conan also tweeted about the nominations, saying “Congrats to my staff on 4 Emmy nominations. This bodes well for the future of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.”
Reading comics is always a double-edged sword. When I was a teenager I recognized the ridiculous nature of the artwork with regard to the women as artists draw them. I also recognize that they’re drawings. That doesn’t mean that for some they won’t be something of a challenge, though. Well, last week a new design was announced for Wonder Woman. It’s not the first time her costume has been redesigned, but it is the most drastic. The thing about it, though, is that it’s both realistic and functional. It’s also far more modest than anything that she’s worn in the past, outside of an all white full body costume at some point that I’d never seen before. I only wish that it had gone further with the modesty, but such is life.
Now, let me just say that I’ve never been that big of a fan of Wonder Woman. The character is one that I only knew about because when I was young I’d watch Super Friends. When the FX network was kicking off, they would show the old Batman show, followed by The Green Hornet, and I seem to remember watching the old Wonder Woman tv series there as well.
I also read some JLA and saw her again in the Justice League cartoon. Otherwise, I really had no interest in the character.
That being said, I think that the new costume is the right direction for DC Comics to take her. It’s something that adds a big more strength to her character and will earn her more respect.
This week saw the release of the first video blog from the New Zealand set of The Hobbit. The long awaited follow-up to The Lord of the Rings, and my most anticipated two films since The Return of the King. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a couple of movies. And the coolest thing is that they’ll definitely live up to my expectations. Knowing that many of the same creative team has returned, and that they’re putting the same detail and care into the project, would be a shock if they didn’t measure up at all to The Lord of the Rings.
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